has been familiar in Italy for many years. An engraving made in 1803 shows being handed to a family group, and another, from 1816, shows an outdoor wood-burning stove, heating a cauldron of oil in which the fryer cooks his pieces of
battered meat or fish while his assistant wraps a helping into a cone of paper for a customer. The dish was known to non-Italians by the mid-19th century: it is mentioned in
Sand and Canvas (London, 1849) in a chapter reporting on eating out in Rome: The Parisian chefs
Urbain Dubois and
Émile Bernard included a detailed recipe for in their '''' (1872), commenting, "The fritto-misto is a national delicacy of Italy; the Romans especially prepare it with the greatest care, because it is very important to them." Like many other chefs and food writers, they emphasise the importance of eating the dish as soon as it is cooked: "The essential point is that the fry is served very hot, because as it cools it softens and thus loses all its qualities." A New York article on "Christmas in Rome" at the end of the century referred to ", a dish of brains, liver, potatoes and various vegetables, all fried that rich golden color which seems to be only obtainable in a foreign frying-pan". The frugal Roman street version of was often made of
offal (
brains,
sweetbreads,
liver) and vegetables, all battered and deep-fried. In coastal areas a () is familiar. The main ingredients may include baby octopus,
calamari rings, cod, sardines, shrimps and
whitebait. , is often named after the area from which it comes, such as or . Elsewhere in Italy (with vegetables) is popular, and may include artichoke hearts and wild mushrooms. ==Regional variants==